Thanks SiteOne for an Excellent Golf Industry Virtual Forum

Did you get a chance to hang out at the 2020 SiteOne Golf Industry Virtual Forum? This four-hour online event, hosted virtually on September 30, was so thorough, no one felt shortchanged that they weren’t together in person. In a relaxed online experience, the SiteOne event made it possible for golf course superintendents and turf managers to learn about current industry offerings, to connect with manufacturer representatives and to get guidance and solutions for questions that might be keeping them up at night.

In addition to the team from SiteOne Landscape Supply, representatives from Bayer, Syngenta, BASF, FMC, PBI/Gordon Corporation, Corteva Agriscience, Nufarm and Lesco also participated. Although we can’t begin to fill you in on all that was shared, we are providing an overview of some of the top news from each supplier plus hyperlinks you can explore for further insights.

Bayer

On hand from Bayer were Dr. Paul Giordano from The Greens Solution Team at Bayer and Regional Account or Sales Managers Marc McNulty, Chad Hauth, Zach Lane, Gary Brooks and Eric Snelsire. Bayer’s presentation focused on how Stressgard Formulation Technology in Bayer fungicides works to protect turf year-round, making the superintendent’s job (and life) easier. Stressgard includes a portfolio of products for use on greens, tees and fairways. Because it is available in multiple products, turf managers have the flexibility to choose the product or products that are best for their needs and their course conditions.

If you are not already familiar with Stressgard, you’ll also want to check out Bayer’s digital flipbooks on Agronomic Recommendations by Zone, available at https://www.environmentalscience.bayer.us/turf-and-ornamentals-management/golf-course-management/portfolios-and-solutions/agronomic-zone-documents.

Syngenta

Sharing news about Syngenta’s GreenTrust 365 program were Jason Wycliffe, Stephanie Schwenke, Lee Kozsey, Bob Goglia, Melissa Barron, Kevin Wasilewski and Melissa Gugliotti. By taking advantage of the GreenTrust 365 Early Order Period, superintendents maximized both turf quality and budget.

The Syngenta team also shared updates about their three new fungicides. Posterity Forte fungicide provides targeted control of key turf diseases, including spring dead spot, take-all root rot and dollar spot on fairways and greens. Posterity XT fungicide provides up to 28 days of control for more than twenty diseases, including dollar spot, brown patch, summer patch and more. Ascernity fungicide controls several key diseases, such as large patch, brown patch and anthracnose, in cool- and warm-season turf with no heat restrictions.

If you’d like to receive a free Syngenta poster that outlines the agronomic program best suited for your greens or fairways, go to www.greencastonline.com/programs/index.aspx#order-poster.

BASF

Andy Engelbrecht, Wes Eppele, Scott Waltz, and Cozette Rosburg were available from BASF to share updates about BASF products and the BASF 2021 Early Order Program (EOP). Branded “Return to Excellence,” the EOP promises a return to simplicity with a range of options to help superintendents plan, purchase, and save. Additionally, the EOP offers a return to innovation with two DMIs (demethylation inhibitors), Maxtima Fungicide and Navicon Intrinsic brand fungicide, as well as a return to flexibility with options for superintendents to design their own fungicide program. Like other EOPs, BASF offers significant savings and rewards.
To learn more about this program, visit betterturf.basf.us/early-order-program.html. With the EOP Calculator, users create an account, estimate their needs and plan their order, with savings calculated in real time.

FMC

Staffing the virtual booth for FMC were Tracy Tudor, Chris Pearson, Matt Carroll, Tina Bond, Matt Sisti, Tom Wharton, and Dave Torska. FMC Professional Solutions is known for supporting the golf and lawn care markets and listening to the needs of golf course superintendents in order to produce products that improve turf management. Quicksilver for silvery thread moss, Dismiss NXT for yellow nutsedge and green kyllinga, and Rayora fungicide, a next-generation DMI, are a few of the FMC products designed to solve difficult turf challenges and perform consistently.
Pairing great products and the FMC Early Order Program is a strategy designed to give superintendents more time and more control. To learn about the FMC True Champions program, go to www.fmctruechampions.com/. To explore FMC products, visit www.fmcprosolutions.com/.

PBI/Gordon Corporation

National Accounts Director Jason Manz, along with National Accounts Manager Trevor Radford and Regional Sales Managers and Reps Brett Rieck, Matt Ayala, Peter Lange, Bill Affinito and Don Botkin represented PBI/Gordon Corporation, an organization that is wholly owned by its employees.

Recognized for turf and ornamental solutions that deliver the performance and value golf superintendents demand, the team at PBI/Gordon says their program positions turf managers to “soar” into 2021. In addition to their early order program, the team shared information on Union Fungicide SC for broad-spectrum disease control, including Pythium disease protection, Vexis Herbicide Granular, a proprietary formulation that delivers exceptional control of sedges and kyllingas plus listed broadleaf weeds, and the company’s new herbicide, SpeedZone EW Broadleaf Herbicide for Turf.
Find out more about PBI/Gordon at www.pbigordonturf.com/.

Corteva Agriscience

The Corteva Agriscience team of Kerry Avirett, Gilbert del Rosario, Chester VandenBerg, and Phil Bruner provided answers about their products designed to help golf courses and golf course superintendents thrive, season after season. In addition to Corteva’s Ultimate rewards program for turf and ornamental products, which features two early order periods and is designed to give turf managers flexibility in decision making, the Corteva staff shared information about its products and details on its Poa Annua Guarantee.

The 2020-2021 Golf and Non-residential Turfgrass Poa annua Guarantee assures 90 percent Poa annua control through April 15, 2021, for turf managers who apply Kerb SC according to specified terms and guidelines. Learn more about Kerb SC, MatchPoint insecticide, and GameOn and NativeKlean herbicides at www.corteva.us/products-and-solutions/turf-and-ornamental.html.

Nufarm

Ryan Nichols, Chris Brown, Stephanie McKay, Steve Vincent and Jake Green covered topics from the Nufarm Edge rewards program to Nufarm’s virtual learning opportunities. Featured products were Anuew plant growth regulator, Celero herbicide and Traction for control of snow mold and other diseases, including summer fairway diseases, such as brown patch, anthracnose, gray leaf spot and dollar spot.

Find out more about the Nufarm Edge rewards program at www.nufarmrewards.com. Learn how you can take advantage of Nufarm’s series of short, virtual learning modules, available on-demand at nufarm.com/usturf/resources-2-2/. Each session covers important industry topics. Modules are led by Dr. Jason Fausey, Aaron Hathaway, and Rick Fletcher of the Nufarm technical services team.

Lesco

Lee Collins, Erich Slider, Chris Fronczek, Jason Wilkerson and Max McGee were onboard to help event attendees learn about Lesco tools, resources and how superintendents and turf managers can be part of the Lesco 2020 EOP, getting ahead to win the game.

Lesco fertilization and plant optimizing technology products include NOS, PolyPlus-Opti, NOS Plus, CarbonPro and PolyPlus, along with seeds, specialty products such as Moisture Manager and CarbonPro product enhancements and a full line of herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. Lesco even offers durable, pro-grade equipment including its Smart Guided Precision Spray System.

To find out more about why the Lesco team says, “The next level is only a bag away,” visit their website at https://www.lesco.com/.

SiteOne Landscape Supply

SiteOne Landscape Supply, the event hosts, showed up big with speakers Brett Boone, Mark Seigfreid, Ryan Schuette, Gary Sorensen, Rodney Piasecki, Christy Ratchford, Judy Strickland, Kelli Reeves, Pooja Natarajan, and Josh Walker. From their 2020 EOP Program to their new website with its added tools and resources, to their partners’ program and their virtual university, SiteOne supports and serves the needs of golf course superintendents and their crews.

SiteOne Project Services makes it easier for course managers to develop bids and submittals for irrigation, landscape, nursery, outdoor lighting, site furnishings, stormwater/drainage, and more. The SiteOne Project Services team can assist with new construction opportunities, cloud-based landscape, and irrigation material takeoffs, customized bid creation, RFQ submission and tracking, professional landscape and irrigation submittal packages, and design services including irrigation and head spots. Golf course superintendents can sign up for a project services account at projectservices.siteone.com.

The Value and Wisdom of Planning Ahead

Although the earliest window for many supplier’s EOP may have already passed (and with it, the greatest discounts), course superintendents may still benefit from pre-order opportunities. If 2020 has revealed anything, it has proven that the systems and routines we’ve all taken for granted can change in a heartbeat.

None of us know with certainty what the new year will bring or whether manufacturing and shipping will run at a normal pace or will again be unpredictable. A well-laid plan for the season ahead supplemented by plenty of product on-hand could be a critical difference maker for course success in 2021.

Thanks again, SiteOne, for helping so many golf course superintendents get a jump on the year ahead.

Linda Parker has been writing professionally since the 1980s. With clients in finance, sports, technology, change enablement, resorts, and nonprofit global initiatives, Linda helps organizations communicate their stories in meaningful ways to the people they most want to reach. She has authored, ghostwritten, or contributed to more than a dozen nonfiction books. Linda is a member of the Authors Guild and the Golf Writers Association of America. You can connect with her at linda@glindacreative.com